Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape
Abstract: Intellectual Merit: Until recently, wetted soils in the Dry Valleys were generally only found adjacent to streams and lakes. Since the warm austral summer of 2002, numerous "wet spots" have been observed far from shorelines on relatively flat valley floor locations and as downslo...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Dataset |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600131 |
id |
dataone:http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600131 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
dataone:http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600131 2024-06-03T18:46:24+00:00 Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape Gooseff, Michael N ENVELOPE(160.0,165.0,-77.25,-78.5) BEGINDATE: 2010-12-15T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2013-11-30T00:00:00Z 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600131 unknown IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center Soil Moisture Antarctic Earth Sciences Climate Radar Antarctica Critical Zone Cryosphere Dry Valleys US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) Dataset 2014 dataone:urn:node:IEDA_USAP 2024-06-03T18:11:58Z Abstract: Intellectual Merit: Until recently, wetted soils in the Dry Valleys were generally only found adjacent to streams and lakes. Since the warm austral summer of 2002, numerous "wet spots" have been observed far from shorelines on relatively flat valley floor locations and as downslope fingers of flow on valley walls. The source of the water to wet these soils is unclear, as is the spatial and temporal pattern of occurrence from year to year. Their significance is potentially great as enhanced soil moisture may change the thermodynamics, hydrology, and erosion rate of surface soils, and facilitate transport of materials that had previously been stable. These changes to the soil active layer could significantly modify permafrost and ground ice stability within the Dry Valleys. The PIs seek to investigate these changes to address two competing hypotheses: that the source of water to these ?wet spots? is ground ice melt and that the source of this water is snowmelt. The PIs will document the spatiotemporal dynamics of these wet areas using high frequency remote sensing data from QuickBird and WorldView satellites to document the occurrence, dimensions, and growth of wet spots during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 austral summers. They will test their hypotheses by determining whether wet spots recur in the same locations in each season, and they will compare present to past distribution using archived imagery. They will also determine whether spatial snow accumulation patterns and temporal ablation patterns are coincident with wet spot formation. Broader impacts: One graduate student will be trained on this project. Findings will be reported at scientific meetings and published in peer reviewed journals. They will also develop a teaching module on remote sensing applications to hydrology for the Modular Curriculum for Hydrologic Advancement and an innovative prototype project designed to leverage public participation in mapping wet spots and snow patches across the Dry Valleys through the use of social media and mobile computing applications. Dataset Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center (via DataONE) Antarctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys ENVELOPE(160.0,165.0,-77.25,-78.5) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center (via DataONE) |
op_collection_id |
dataone:urn:node:IEDA_USAP |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Soil Moisture Antarctic Earth Sciences Climate Radar Antarctica Critical Zone Cryosphere Dry Valleys US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) |
spellingShingle |
Soil Moisture Antarctic Earth Sciences Climate Radar Antarctica Critical Zone Cryosphere Dry Valleys US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) Gooseff, Michael N Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
topic_facet |
Soil Moisture Antarctic Earth Sciences Climate Radar Antarctica Critical Zone Cryosphere Dry Valleys US Antarctic Program Data Center (USAP-DC) |
description |
Abstract: Intellectual Merit: Until recently, wetted soils in the Dry Valleys were generally only found adjacent to streams and lakes. Since the warm austral summer of 2002, numerous "wet spots" have been observed far from shorelines on relatively flat valley floor locations and as downslope fingers of flow on valley walls. The source of the water to wet these soils is unclear, as is the spatial and temporal pattern of occurrence from year to year. Their significance is potentially great as enhanced soil moisture may change the thermodynamics, hydrology, and erosion rate of surface soils, and facilitate transport of materials that had previously been stable. These changes to the soil active layer could significantly modify permafrost and ground ice stability within the Dry Valleys. The PIs seek to investigate these changes to address two competing hypotheses: that the source of water to these ?wet spots? is ground ice melt and that the source of this water is snowmelt. The PIs will document the spatiotemporal dynamics of these wet areas using high frequency remote sensing data from QuickBird and WorldView satellites to document the occurrence, dimensions, and growth of wet spots during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 austral summers. They will test their hypotheses by determining whether wet spots recur in the same locations in each season, and they will compare present to past distribution using archived imagery. They will also determine whether spatial snow accumulation patterns and temporal ablation patterns are coincident with wet spot formation. Broader impacts: One graduate student will be trained on this project. Findings will be reported at scientific meetings and published in peer reviewed journals. They will also develop a teaching module on remote sensing applications to hydrology for the Modular Curriculum for Hydrologic Advancement and an innovative prototype project designed to leverage public participation in mapping wet spots and snow patches across the Dry Valleys through the use of social media and mobile computing applications. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Gooseff, Michael N |
author_facet |
Gooseff, Michael N |
author_sort |
Gooseff, Michael N |
title |
Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
title_short |
Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
title_full |
Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
title_fullStr |
Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are the Dry Valleys Getting Wetter? A Preliminary Assessment of Wetness Across the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape |
title_sort |
are the dry valleys getting wetter? a preliminary assessment of wetness across the mcmurdo dry valleys landscape |
publisher |
IEDA: US Antarctic Program Data Center |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://get.iedadata.org/metadata/iso/600131 |
op_coverage |
ENVELOPE(160.0,165.0,-77.25,-78.5) BEGINDATE: 2010-12-15T00:00:00Z ENDDATE: 2013-11-30T00:00:00Z |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(160.0,165.0,-77.25,-78.5) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice McMurdo Dry Valleys permafrost |
_version_ |
1800872904668217344 |